The end effector in question is a manipulator-guided tool, i.e. a tool which is arranged for its intended purpose on a manipulator and in particular is flange-mounted thereon. The manipulator may be any kind of motion apparatus. Frequently, the manipulator is a robot.
The tool is often configured as a gripping tool and is then used for carrying out handling tasks which proceed in an automated manner guided by the manipulator. In this case, the handling of flexible workpieces such as semifinished fiber products or the like places particular requirements on the gripping tool. The handling of such semifinished fiber products plays an important part in the production of fiber composite components. Such fiber composite components are increasingly used in the aviation industry in order to be able to provide structural components such as fuselage shells having a low weight and good mechanical properties (DE 10 2007 003 275 A1).
In the present case, the main focus is on the use of the gripping tool in question in the context of handling tasks, in which a semifinished fiber product as above is deposited in a mold or placed on a mold. In this case, the gripping tool frequently has not only a transporting function but also a draping function. Before the deposition or placement of the workpiece, a draping step is carried out to ensure that the workpiece surface is adapted to the mold surface.
The known gripping tool (DE 101 52 232 A1), on which the invention is based, is equipped with a carrier for a tool arrangement, in this case a gripping arrangement, by way of which retentive engagement with the workpiece to be gripped is producible. The gripping arrangement comprises a number of suction grippers which are each equipped with an actuator and can thus be oriented independently of one another.
Although the fact that every suction gripper is adjustable in a manner free from the other suction grippers theoretically leads to high flexibility when draping the workpiece, challenges arise in terms of drive and control, in particular when the tool is intended to be set for curved or even spherical workpiece surfaces.